Why was the BEB activated?
In recent months, cases of searches of businesses have increased in Ukraine, and the Bureau of Economic Security (BEB) often acts as their executor. Many entrepreneurs have a logical question: why has this body suddenly become so active?
A significant part of BEB employees does not have sufficient experience to conduct complex economic investigations, which further reduces the effectiveness of the body.
However, the main reason for such criticism is the low efficiency of the body. Statistics confirm that most of the cases investigated by the BEB do not go to court, and the number of convictions is extremely low.
Indicative statistics
According to the Dashboard of the Prosecutor General's Office, which highlights the data of the court proceedings of criminal offenses related to economic and investment activities, for the last 6 months - from March 2024 to August 2024, about 2,000 criminal proceedings are being conducted at the BEB every month , of which about 30 cases are sent to the court.
This indicates problems with the quality of evidence preparation in criminal proceedings or failure to take into account the evidence provided by the defense during the pre-trial investigation. This also clearly illustrates that only 15% cases have a judicial perspective and the courts will issue appropriate decisions.
With increasing public pressure on law enforcement agencies, BEB is forced to demonstrate at least some results of its work. Searches have become one of the most common methods used by the Security Intelligence Service to publicly demonstrate its activity. In the period from the beginning of 2023, the BEB conducted about 600 searches throughout Ukraine, which is almost twice as much as the previous year. In particular, in the second half of 2023, more than 350 searches were conducted, which became the highest indicator during the entire existence of the body. This allowed the body to create the appearance of active work.
Search is not an indicator of effective work, in addition, they have a number of negative consequences for business. Searches are one of the most "convenient" tools in the body's work: obtaining a court order is quite simple, and the measure itself can be carried out by the efforts of several people, which makes this method convenient for the BEB from the point of view of minimal organizational costs.
But therein lies the problem: searches often do more harm to business than they help the state in detecting wrongdoing. Withdrawal of documentation, seizure of funds and property, blocking of operational activities — all this has a negative impact on entrepreneurial activity.
In 2023, more than 50 cases were recorded when, after searches, enterprises were forced to reduce or stop their activities due to the blocking of accounts or withdrawal of critical resources.
Convictions: where is the result?
Despite such active work with searches, there are very few real convictions. The cases that the BEB takes to court often end in vain. Experts point out that this is one of the main problems undermining trust in the newly created body. In fact, the main goal of the BEB is not the number of searches, but actual sentences against persons guilty of economic crimes.
According to data for 2023, the number of convictions in cases investigated by the BEB was less than 1% of the total number of initiated proceedings. This is a critically low indicator that undermines trust in the body as an effective law enforcement structure.
Therefore, today the activity of BEB is more like an attempt to show itself from the best side in front of society and international partners. However, demonstrating only the constant searches of businesses, the question of the effectiveness of the BEB's work remains open. So far, the activities of the BEB bring only more negative consequences for the Ukrainian economy than benefits in the fight against economic crime.
Source: LIGA.net
